


vibrant colors

by GarrillaGal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, keith has a big old crush, klance, synesthesia au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 12:27:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16492595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GarrillaGal/pseuds/GarrillaGal
Summary: College au where Keith has synesthesia and Lance is known to play his guitar in the courtyard. Keith sees certain colors when music plays, and he can't help but stop and stare when Lance plays and sings.





	vibrant colors

 

Keith thought he saw every color out there. A new color for every person was how it used to be. As he grew older, certain sounds started to share colors and intensities. The memory of his father’s deep burgundy voice. His mother’s bright purple chirping. Those colors were special; unique. But the sound of a truck going by had the same green hue as the other truck going by the next minute.

This was a blue he had never seen before. At first, it muddled in with the familiar crowd brown. But then it's pulsing became more significant and somewhat strange. Keith looked away from the ground and started to search. He blocked out Matt’s dark green voice as he looked. Through a small crowd of people, he could see a hand strumming an acoustic guitar. The song was a wash of green and blue. Like the ocean. Keith followed the blue voice and stopped at the front of the watching crowd.

The boy in front of him stole his breath. Brown hair, brown skin, and a white smile. His voice pulsed a watery blue in Keith's vision. Keith watched his hand strum up and down, and his fingers slid back and forth on the fingerboard. It was like a dance. For the first time in years, Keith felt like dancing. It took a lot of strength for him not to sway to the rhythm. He wanted to get closer. He wanted to see the color of this boy's eyes. They were dark, but Keith couldn't tell from so far away. Unfortunately, this was as close as he could get without making a scene, so he stayed there and watched the colors. When the song almost finished, a hand gripped Keith’s shoulder and he tensed.

“Dude, what are you doing? We have class.” Matt asked above a whisper. His dark green overpowered the new blue, and Keith’s trance broke. Class. They would be late for class.

~~~

Keith spent the next few weeks trying to mix his paints to recreate that beautiful blue. He saw it, so why couldn’t he seem to get it right? Keith searched the courtyard almost everyday for the boy, but it was like he disappeared. Maybe he was just visiting. Touring the campus. It all seemed hopeless until the month had one last beautiful day, and the boy was back in the same spot. Keith wasn’t even paying attention to the noise around him until he saw the familiar blue. He let Matt go ahead of him.

“I’ll catch up later.” he said and headed for the water. The boy’s song was more yellow this time. It had pops of orange, but the chorus was bluegreen. The color combinations gave Keith a few ideas for some paintings. There was less of a crowd this time, so he could easily shoulder his way to the front. He should have been prepared, but the air in his lungs flew from his chest at the sight of the boy. It was like the memory of his smile faded over the weeks because this smile floored him. It was like stepping into the sunshine after a summer storm. The boy wore a hoodie and cargo shorts. Just like any other college kid, but Keith could pick him out of any crowd. When the song finished, kids dispersed and the boy started to pack up his guitar. Something caught in Keith’s throat as he thought of something to say. Once the boy noticed Keith still standing there, he looked up and smiled.

Blue. His eyes were the same blue Keith could see as he sang.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I uh really liked your music. Is it original?”

“Yeah. Most of it, at least. My buddy, Hunk, helps me with the lyrics sometimes.”

“It’s really good.”

“Oh, thanks.” he paused. The boy held out his hand. “I’m Lance, by the way.” Keith took his hand.

“Keith.” and then they let go.

“I’m assuming you, uh, go here? You heading to class?” Lance asks. Keith freezes for a second and then lifts up his wrist to check the time. Late.

“I actually just got out of class.” he lied.

“Okay. Listen, you wanna get a coffee or something? It’s getting chilly out here.” Lance said with a soft smile. Keith nodded.

“Yeah. Sure.” How could anyone say no to that? They found an empty booth at the campus Starbucks and bought hot fall drinks.

“ _ You can see colors? _ How? That’s like impossible.” Lance said. He rested his feet on top of his guitar case on the ground and sipped his drink half-heartedly.

“It’s real, I swear. Just look it up.”

“So what colors do you see right now?”

“Well, I see a bright red when I talk.” Keith looked around at the small crowd of people at the counter. “Crowds are more of a dull gray or brown. My friend’s voice is dark green, and his little sister is a lighter green. I dunno, certain pitches have their own thing.

“What color do you see when I talk?” Lance asked. Keith glanced down at him holding his phone. He was typing ‘synesthesia’ in Google, but spelling it way wrong. He smiled.

“Blue. Like the ocean.” Lance looked up from his phone at this.

“Really?” He asked in awe. Keith leaned forward on the table to look closer into Lance’s eyes. Lance was visibly flustered, but didn’t move back.

“Yeah. It’s the same color as your eyes.” A blush crept onto Lance’s cheeks, but there was no way it could match the blush creeping all over Keith’s body. He should really be in class, but this was way better.

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!


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